WINONA, Minn. — Lex Krogstad (Chicago, Ill.) had a monster week for the Saint Mary's University of Minnesota volleyball team last week.
 
The Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference recognized her stellar performances on Monday—and the American Volleyball Coaches Association echoed it on Tuesday.
 
Just a day after being named the MIAC's Setter/Libero of the Week, the AVCA, in conjunction with Sports Imports, tabbed the Cardinal senior the Division III National Player of the Week.
 
"That's a great honor for Lex," said Saint Mary's coach Mike Lester, who noted that Krogstad is the Cardinals' first national player of the week since Anna Thibault earned the honor on Oct. 21, 1996. "Lex had a phenomenal week for us, and it was awesome to see her honored for her efforts."
 
With Krogstad leading the way the Cardinals kicked off conference play with a 3-0 win over St. Catherine last weekend, and followed that up with a perfect 4-0 run through the Ripon Red Hawk Invitational.
 
Krogstad kicked off her week with 10 digs and a pair of assists in the Cardinals' conference-opening 3-0 sweep over St. Catherine.
 
And she was just getting warmed up.
 
Krogstad compiled a team-leading 115 digs in four tournament matches—earning the senior libero all-tournament honors. Krogstad kicked off the weekend by equaling her collegiate high with 36 digs in a 3-1 win against St. Norbert, before adding 20 digs against UW-River Falls, 30 in the Cardinals' rematch with St. Catherine, and 29 against Ripon—all 3-0 Saint Mary's victories.
 
Krogstad—who also posted 15 assists and 10 aces in five matches last week—owns a team-high 242 digs in helping the Cardinals to a 12-2 overall record.
 
Saint Mary's returns to conference play this week, traveling to Hamline for a 7 p.m. match on Wednesday, before heading to St. Thomas for a 3 p.m. conference showdown on Saturday.